Some of the Worst Things Employees Have Said

Could turn out to be what you needed to hear most

We are an employee research company and the truth is, sometimes employees tell us things that are so horrible, we wonder if we should be telling you. Of course, we give our clients every word their employees tell us but we don’t publicize negative comments because that would make us very untrustworthy and would be a fast way to lose business but we can tell you we have come across some pretty raw and disturbing comments….enough to make your hair curl!

You ask yourself, Could it really be that bad? And sometimes yes, it really is.

From experience, we know that most employees appreciate being asked what they think. By guaranteeing their anonymity, we create an environment where they feel safe and free to say what they really feel. The results are sometimes quite shocking but that is the point of an employee survey, to get some understanding of the truth.

Nonetheless, it is upsetting for us to read how many employees wish their employers would fail or go out of business, as punishment for bad leadership. 

Reading about employees who hate each other so much they frequently beat each other up is alarming and so is knowing that workplace bullying is often so rampant that employees secretly wish undercover agents could come in and see what is really happening, because everyone is too afraid to speak up.

Problems do not go away on their own, so our advice to you is this: If you don’t ask the questions, it doesn’t mean the problems don’t exist. Denying there’s a problem usually leads to a communication breakdown; in marriages, it leads to divorce and at work, it leads to resignations, which costs you money.

I believe that employee surveys are absolutely critical measures of the state of affairs in any organization. (Anonymity guaranteed of course).

You have to know what’s wrong before you can fix anything.

, what

In this scene from The Devil Wears Prada would Andrea and her co-workers have said about their boss if they’d been asked? And if they’d been asked, perhaps Andrea might not have quit if her bully boss, Miranda, had known how deeply she was affecting and hurting her employees and making everyone miserable.

Of course this is Hollywood, where nobody has to worry about how long a real company would last with someone like Miranda at the helm.

Still the worst things that people say could turn out to be the best in the long run. Why? Because the truth will set you free….it always works that way, in our personal lives and at work. And knowing beats not knowing doesn’t it?